John Birch Society

American  

noun

1. an ultraconservative organization, founded in December 1958 by Robert Welch, Jr., chiefly to combat alleged Communist activities in the U.S.

---

John Birch Society British  

noun

1. politics a fanatical right-wing association organized along semisecret lines to fight Communism

---

John Birch Society Cultural  

1. A conservative organization prominent in the 1950s and 1960s. The society was particularly concerned with the dangers of communism, and its views were considered extreme by most Americans.

---

Etymology

Origin of John Birch Society

C20: named after John Birch (killed by Chinese communists 1945), American USAF captain whom its members regarded as the first cold-war casualty

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

John Birch Society

The John Birch Society was the post-WWII fringe group so committed to rooting out its perceived Communist menace here at home that it saw Commies and their conspiracies even where there were none.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2024

I think the American Mercury, like the John Birch Society in general and the magazine American Opinion in particular, were real rivals for conservative influence to Buckley and National Review.

From Salon ● Apr. 20, 2024

Back when the Cold War loomed and TV was still mostly in black and white, the John Birch Society mattered.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 21, 2024

Skousen, who died in 2006, was a member of the John Birch Society, which opposed civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s and also promoted a number of conspiracy theories.

From Slate ● Jun. 29, 2023

The stickers about the police and Earl Warren were gifts from Billy’s father-in-law, a member of the John Birch Society.

From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut